Aadhaar linkage: Telcos use pressure tactics on users

Telecom operators are bombarding their consumers with messages to link their SIM cards with Aadhaar, going so far as to threaten a disconnection in services.Pankaj Doval | TNN | October 15, 2017, 14:58 IST

NEW DELHI: Telecom operators are bombarding their consumers with messages to link their SIM cards with Aadhaar, going so far as to threaten a disconnection in services.

Those who use Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, among others, have been fielding frequent SMS alerts and tele-calls from mobile operators and their field associates, asking them to link their numbers with Aadhaar. Telecom companies cite a directive from the Department of Telecom (which cited a Supreme Court order on security) to re-verify all existing connections with Aadhaar by February 6, 2018.

While the DoT has used an observation by the court as a binding directive, an interim order by the court states that Aadhaar enrollment could not be made mandatory. Also, the manner in which private telecom companies are seeking this Aadhaar linkage is creating much resentment among users. Some operators have told customers that their numbers would be disconnected if the verification is not “immediately completed”. This when even the DoT circular gives time until next February. So why these empty threats, ask users.

"Is this fair?” asks a Delhi-based user, who was told by Airtel to link with Aadhaar or “please contact the service centre” to continue services.

The linking process is a bigger hassle. On many occasions, the biometric machines at the service centres do not work and customers are asked to “return later”.

“My fingerprints are fading and they keep asking me to do it again. I can’t keep going to them. It is essential for me to have a phone, since I live alone,” says Krishan Lal Dubey, a 90-year-old former army man who feels the order was passed without enough focus on execution.

“This is a big problem for people living in smaller towns and villages, or hilly areas where the service centres are located far. One can’t go over and over again,” says a customer.

Those with disabilities or other constraints also face problems. Users are being pushed to link their phone numbers with Aadhaar in other ways too. A Gurugram-based resident was trying to book a safari in Ranthambore tiger reserve, using Aadhaar as her profile on the Rajasthan forest department website. She was told that her Aadhaar would have to be linked to her mobile number and email address to proceed, and gave her no other option. The government says it is mindful of these concerns, and held a meeting with mobile operators and the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India, which manages the Aadhaar database), telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan told TOI.

“We are trying to smooth things for both telcos and customers. We are particularly concerned for older customers,” Sundararajan said.

Telecom firms justify the pressure tactics citing the “potential rush if everyone comes for verification towards the February deadline.” They have no answer to questions about the pains that customers face.

“As per the SC order, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has issued a directive to all mobile operators to complete Aadhaar based verification of all their subscribers by February. At Airtel, we are working round the clock and requesting our customers to link their Aadhaar with their mobile numbers before the deadline,” was Airtel’s response.

A Vodafone spokesperson justified the “urgency to scale up”, saying that back-end infrastructure needed to simultaneously re-verify all mobile connections could not be created, should all customers wait for the last few days. By the end of September, 50% of its 21-croreplus customers have complied. “We need about 8.5 lakh connections to be re-verified every day over the next 120 days,” said the V odafone spokesperson. These firms are spending nearly Rs 1,000 crore to re-verify a total of 110 crore mobile connections, said Rajan Mathews, director-general of industry body COAI. Around 50 crore connections have been linked.

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